Chapter 9
#RyanCheating
#HayesCoveringAssault
#HayesTaxFraud
Three hashtags exploded across social media overnight.
Attached were full surveillance clips proving Sophia framed me, plus recordings of her boasting about feeding my brother’s kidney to her dog. The comment section was a storm of outrage.
“Mr. Hayes! The shareholders are moving to oust you!” The assistant burst in with a pile of documents, pale–faced. “And… Evelyn’s brother Aaron died days ago.”
Ryan’s fingers trembled as he snatched the files. His mind flashed back to the nurse’s words “She carried an urn when she left.”
Aaron was dead?
He remembered only the day he had Aaron’s kidney taken for Sophia. After that, he had been toc busy with business to ask again.
He thought Evelyn would stay, chained by her brother’s medical bills–forgetting that people can reach the point of utter despair.
“Investigate Sophia!” Ryan roared. “Check what she told Aaron’s doctor! Check if she tampered with his medicine!”
The truth hit harder than he expected.
Among the evidence my lawyer submitted was Sophia laughing with her accomplices: “I told the nurse to halve his antibiotics. The faster he dies, the better–Evelyn won’t have him as leverage anymore.”
Hospital cameras showed Sophia pretending to visit, secretly yanking Aaron’s IV line.
“This woman…” Ryan crushed the glass in his hand. Shards pierced his palm, but he felt no pain.
He had thought himself in control, but Sophia had played him for a fool.
Framing me, killing Aaron, driving me away–she had orchestrated it all.
Ryan locked Sophia in the abandoned warehouse near Chicago, repaying her cruelty with his own. Watching her break under torture, he felt no pity.
Until the Hayes family collapse hit the news.
Sophia laughed manically. “Ryan, you think Evelyn was guilty? It was me! I sold the company secrets. I killed Aaron. Now you’ve lost everything. And I’d rather die than let you find Evelyn!”
Ryan stood frozen, his bloody palm dripping onto the floor.
For the first time, he realized Evelyn was innocent. The betrayal he believed, the greed he condemned–they were Sophia’s traps. The beatings and insults he had given Evelyn were knives ne had driven into himself.
‘Find… Evelyn,” he muttered to his assistant. “Bring her back. I’ll make it right. She’ll forgive me…” The assistant looked at his broken figure but said nothing.
Chantera
At the Shaws‘ estate, the DNA results lay open on the table.
Mrs. Shaw clutched my hand, tears streaming. “My Evelyn, we finally found you. I failed you back then–letting you suffer so much.”
Mr. Shaw’s eyes were wet, but his voice stayed steady. “We hid the truth of our fortune to protec you. We only wanted to find you quietly, give you a normal home–not burden you with wealth o danger.”
I glanced at the documents detailing the Shaws‘ vast holdings. My parents were among the wealthiest families in the country. But I didn’t feel distant. What stayed in my heart was Mrs. Shaw’s oatmeal, Mr. Shaw sorting Edward’s sketches, Adrian’s patience at the museum.
“Evelyn,” Adrian spoke with careful sincerity, “from the moment I saw you on that plane, I liked you.”
I met his eyes. There was no calculation, only gentleness.
I thought of how he had accompanied me, organized my father’s drafts, distracted me when I was down, and quietly brought me warm milk when I painted late into the night.
“Adrian,” I said softly, “I’ve just been through too much. I’m not ready for a new relationship. But.. if you’re willing, I’ll give you a chance.”
His eyes lit up instantly. He nodded. “I’ll wait–as long as it takes.”
With the Shaws‘ support, I gained a private studio.
I poured all my past pain and release into my paintings.
Three months later, my exhibition opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
On opening day, I stood before my work, next to reproductions of Edward’s masterpieces, while the Shaw family snapped photos of me.
The Hayes empire had collapsed. Sophia committed suicide in prison. Ryan searched everywhere for me, but the Shaws‘ influence kept him from finding a trace.
Everything tied to Ryan was now nothing but dust outside the frame.
My world was filled with art, family, and a future worth anticipating.
